… where you take over and I put my feet up. Send a photo or photos with some sort of writeup, long or short, about anything (almost) to peter.b.abrahams@gmail.com. And now over to Mary L!

Dogs need an activity just like humans do. Some dogs work for a living, police and military dogs, search and rescue dogs, service dogs and therapy dogs. Hunting dogs of all sorts.

But some dogs just need an activity. There are a lot of activities for dogs that you could consider hobbies or perhaps leisure activities.. Some are partner sports and some are mostly for the dogs. Anyone that has brought up a puppy knows when they hit a certain age they need something to burn energy or focus their attention. Brain game treat dispensers or puzzles offer some methods to relieve some of their, shall we say over-exuberance?

Lure Coursing would be one activity which is mostly for the dog. You let them go and they chase a lure around a course pulled by a rope attacked to a powerful motor. If they’re into it it’s fun to watch and I’m sure they have a great time. Freyja tried it once but like Dug in UP she lost interest a quarter of the way in and starting to sniff the ground for messages left by dogs before the course was set up or decided she wanted to return to me for pets.. I’m not sure of the rules for Barn Hunt or Earthdog.

There are the partner sports where dog and their person work together. Tracking is one, agility another and then there is that dog dancing thing. I know I love to watch the rescue dogs doing agility for fun at the dog shows. Love their enthusiasm even if they don’t quite get through the course and are distracted by the crowd or refuse a certain tunnel or weave pole.

A little known new sport is Treiball. Developed in Germany it is for herding dogs that, because they are urban don’t have the opportunity to herd sheep or cattle. It takes place in a large arena or stadium in which dogs “herd” extremely large balls into the equivalent of a soccer goal directed by their humans. There are levels of competency in which the humans direct them to single out a specific ball from a group of balls, separate it out and herd it into the net. It isn’t as exciting as agility but is much more interesting to watch than Scentwork. Videos can be found on YouTube if you search for Treiball.

When Diana was a puppy I looked for a sport that we could do together. She was “kicked out” of Puppy Play at the human society when she aged out at 16 weeks. Lucky for us they had just started to offer classes in Nosework or Scentwork. The instructor started them with the very basics and Diana was both VERY food oriented and wicked smart so she did well. She passed her NACSW (National Association of Canine Scent Work) ORT (Odor Recognition Test) and done two trials but not passed our first level and had only passed one trial for the AKC Nosework when Covid hit. That pretty much put an end to our sporting life. None of the trials were local so we would drive to the location, stay overnight, do the trial the next day and then drive home right after. While we could have started up again after Covid by that time Freyja was with us so she would have to come along.

There was an activity we could all do that didn’t involve travel, was outdoors and even available during Covid. Walking. The San Diego Humane Society has there annual Walk for the Animals fundraiser in the Spring. During Covid it was an independent, on your own, sort of walk that could be broken up into smaller walks on any day, any time, any place. This was something Diana and I could do. The first few, before Covid, we did in my parent’s neighborhood with Dolly, their dog. After Covid I continued at my local park with just Diana. We could certainly walk but now walk with a purpose.

The AKC has their own walk, two in fact. Diana and I began with their Turkey Trot 3k walk before Freyja came to us. The AKC has since instituted a FitDog program that of course includes their people. At 70 and a bit physically limited I can’t do their fit program but Diana and now Freyja and I continue to do their 3k walks. They have recently added a Spring Scurry so we do it twice a year. It is an honor program and can be broken up into smaller increments so we do a quarter to a half a mile walking the perimeter of the dog park until we reach our goal. There are “medals” you can purchase to help support their program and Diana and Freyja have their medals for every year they have participated. This year they also offered a t-shirt for their human “coaches” so mine will be arriving soon.

A bit short notice but the San Diego Humane Society’s Walk for the Animals is coming this May 2 and Team Wonder Puppies will be participating again this year. We aren’t much into crowds or early mornings so just like the AKC trots and scurries, we have the option to walk independently, which we do at the dog park and just like the AKC we can break it up into smaller walks. While everyone is walking on May 2 we started early and we have until June to complete our walk.

Team Wonder Puppies already has their website up and running for those that want to join the team and walk “with us” on their own, wherever they are, whenever they want with whoever they want. You can join our team or simply donate to support an excellent cause. The San Diego Humane Society does a phenomenal job not only supporting domestic pets and feral cats and dogs but also supporting wildlife. They have a superior rehabilitate and release program and support the community with a food pantry and low cost vet care. They offer all sorts of training opportunities for first time and experienced pet owners and they do not euthanize any animal for lack of space or adoption. They have an in house full time vet service, behaviorists and trainers to ensure that any animal that can be adopted has the opportunity to be adopted. If you’d like to support Team Wonder Puppies you can find our webpage here:

http://support.sdhumane.org/goto/wonderpuppiesteam